Tura, January 19:The Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma today reviewed the implementation of various schemes and programmes in the departments of Agriculture and Horticulture in the entire districts of Garo Hills in the presence of West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi. The Chief Minister stated that such reviewing of schemes which are on high demand was necessary since many programmes initiated by the government needs to be completed within the stipulated time frame.
Reviewing the implementation of Mission Organic in the districts, it was found that most of the districts have completed the first phase of internal certification for three years including distribution of materials, training programmes and formation of cluster groups among the farmers and the area covered under Mission Organic is about 23,000 hectares in the districts of Garo Hills as per the report given by District Agriculture and Horticulture officers.
On organic certification of the products, the Chief Minister cautioned the officers on selection of land for organic farming as there is a possibility of presence of harmful chemical and toxic waste that flow down the rivers from urban centres during monsoons and get deposited on the river banks particularly in the lower region and basin areas and told them not to mix products from basin areas as problem may arise during certification.
He also directed the officers to take up aggressive campaign in this regard and inform the farmers about different measures to make physical protection of their farmlands from every contamination. It is imperative that farmers are made aware of the importance of organic farming from the health perspective and ensure residue free products for the people of the region, he added.
Stressing on the importance of organizing and attending business conclaves, Dr. Sangma said that this forum is necessary to create a link between farmers and potential buyers of the region in a simple but professional way. He also suggested for registering farmers organizations for comprehensive data collection which will enable to acquire the detailed information about farmers, their crops and production and thereby give advisory to them as and when necessary.
The idea of farmers getting more remunerative returns through Mission Organic not only deals with price perspective but also from input perspective since every input that the farmer makes and cost invested will determine the quantum of production, he added. He also appealed to the officers to convince the farmers and work in coordination to change their mindset to shift to organic farming and implement Mission Organic on a mission mode. On the status of floriculture in the region, he asked the department to look at the viability in terms of demand and supply as well as in terms of suitability.
